There is no ban on assault weapons in Maine or the nation — nor much chance of one — and other steps toward toughened gun control rules have been halting and limited.

The race has become a referendum on what the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office did, and failed to do, before a shooting that killed 18 people in Lewiston last fall.

More than 100 family members and survivors of Maine’s worst mass shooting are planning to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Army for failing to respond to warning signs that the reservist shooter was a threat.